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Two Of Oregon's Unsafe Dams Are In Newport

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City of Newport
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Out of Oregon’s list of unsafe dams, 2 of the 7 are in Newport. The Lower and Upper dams on the Big Creek Reservoir are deemed unsatisfactory by the state.

This means that in the case of a major earthquake, they would likely fail. Tim Gross is Director of Public Works with the City of Newport. He says Newport has been working for years with the State Water Resources Department to come up with a plan to replace the dams. Gross says there are about a dozen homes downstream from the Lower Dam.
 “Obviously, a big concern is the impact to life and safety of the people downstream.” Gross says,  “But also, if we lost these structures, we wouldn’t be able to provide a water supply to our community for several years and really that’s not satisfactory. We have to have a resilient water supply.”
Paying for a new dam on the Big Creek Reservoir is a big challenge. Gross estimates it would cost upwards of 50 million dollars.
 

Rachael McDonald is KLCC’s former News Director. Rachael has a BA in English from the University of Oregon. She started out in public radio as a newsroom volunteer at KLCC in 2000. After reporting for the Northwest News Network and KAZU, Rachael returned to KLCC in 2007 as Morning Edition host and a general assignment reporter covering politics, the environment, education, and the arts. She was hired as KLCC News Director in 2018. Rachael departed KLCC in June, 2022.
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